Does a 15/20mm front axle really make much difference over QR?

I'm building up a bike (x-small BFe) for my 13 year old son. He's a good, nerves of steel downhiller, who does decent jumps and goes very fast - unlike his feeble, chicken, XC dad. He's only light so I'm looking for air forks (revs or pikes) to save having to faff around with different coil weights.

I appreciate the arguments about a 15 or 20mm axle being stiffer, but does it *really* make that much difference, especially for someone who weighs less than 50kg? If anything I'm more convinced by the sense of security of having the wheel really solidly attached, but never having had a QR come loose is that actually an issue or is it just dad neurosis?

Once you start getting onto taller forks, be that 29er or longer travel it makes a significant difference, but at his weight he won't have the muscle or weight behind him to make any difference. If you're that worried about the security, you could always go for a 9mm "maxle"

Thanks guys. Still looking for the forks (I keep just missing them on the classifieds!) but wondering about QR revs or 20mm pikes. Air pikes don't come up very often, but it sounds as if I should probably keep an eye out for some of them...

Apparently it is all about the torque at which you can do the skewer up with - not the axle size itself.

The bigger axles generally allow more torque but if you have Hope hubs you can use the DT-Swiss RWS 9mm axle instead with QR forks, and they do apply a lot more torque than a QR skewer, and also more than the Superstar or cheaper 'equivalents'.

For a normal QR and security just use a Shimano XT skewer as the Shimano cam mechanism is far better than the others, especially the Hope ones...

Given the way modern forks retain the wheel with the recess anyway you could ride with the QR not very tight tbh and the wheel not fall off- I know I once forgot to tighten mine! - well hand tight but forgot to lock over and it did not fall out - I did notice after a mile or so mind!!!
Personally I cannot tell any advantage for maxle over QR but I am not the heaviest rider
FWIW air Pikes are very heavy - 2 kg iirc - I have them and love them though which is why so few come up.

It's only one part of the big picture. Like, a 32 with a 15mm is still pretty flexy, overall it's pretty comparable with a Rev with a QR. And there's never been a QR Lyrik but if there were, it'd still be stiff.

TBH the big question isn't really about flex at all, it's whether you care- some people love a stiff fork, me, I notice it but I very rarely care. I noticed my mate's 150mm 32s on hard braking but I can't say I've ever had a wobbly fork fail to track a line I wanted it to, or anything like that- they're less confidence inspiring mind.

Oh aye- and a bolt-through is less likely to fall out. But you can counter that with maintenance and decent QRs, none of your superlight options or Hope pish.

As a relatively light (although not as light as your son) rider, I would say yes, you can notice the difference - in terms of flex/ stiffness etc, and for a 'ragging it' youngster, it might well feel more secure for Dad at the very least. I may have some air Pikes [the older ones that'll fit your son's BFe] up for sale in the not too distant future, for not too much cash, so if you wanna ping me an email ruthdotandyatbtinternetdotcom then I'll contact you first

To stop a QR catching, just angle the lever towards the back of the bike. And they could always be tight enough to leave an imprint in the hand when doing them up. Plus re-check before a gnarly session. Though the same applies to maxles etcc .

IMO the sooner the QR is resigned to the history books the better: Maxles and the Fox/BOS/Marz. sytem are far more secure and much more convenient to use, regardless of whether they are any stiffer (which I am convinced they are).